Fund Investments Pass Record $4-Trillion Mark

Investments in U.S. mutual funds passed the $4-trillion mark for the first time last month, an industry trade group said Wednesday, and investors increased the pace of buying stock funds in July.

Executives at Fidelity Investments, Vanguard Group, T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., Charles Schwab Corp. and Scudder, Stevens & Clark Inc. reported estimated inflows higher in July than in June, providing the companies with one of their better months this year.

Investment Company Institute, the trade group for the fund industry, reported that assets for all funds were at $4 trillion at the end of June, compared with $3.9 trillion the previous month, with more than half in stock funds.

The average stock fund had 5.8% of assets sitting idle in a cash account at the end of June, down from 6.1% at the end of May, the ICI reported. Even though cash continued to pour into funds, investors opted for more conservatively managed funds this month.